This article demonstrates the importance of considering transgender speakers apart from gays, lesbians, and bisexuals, even where there is significant overlap in the linguistic practices of these groups. Through an analysis of transgender coming out narratives, it is shown that previous accounts of this genre, which have focused on gays and lesbians, do not extend to the entire LGBT (lesbian, g...

Objective: To examine how lesbian, gay, and heterosexual adoptive parents navigate openness dynamics with children’s birth family across a 5-year period, when children are preschoolto school-age. Background: Few studies regarding birth family contact have included longitudinal data as well as a sample of adoptive parents of varying sexual orientations. Thus, this study used a multiprong theoret...

Although lesbian mothers are often called to justify their family’s legitimacy, we know little about these interactions. The current study included 44 female coparents across 10 focus groups discussing the interactive process of discursive legitimacy challenges. Using the theoretical framework of remedial accounts (Schönbach, 1990), inductive and deductive coding revealed several existing and n...

The articles in this issue explore a wide range of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) issues. Dr. Peggy Chinn discusses the stigma of being lesbian or gay in the nursing profession (and academia) and she challenges lesbian and gay nurses to act against the status quo. Dr. Joanne Hall explores the meanings of tomboyism from linguistic, literary, and historical perspectives. Dr. Danny...

Existing research on children with lesbian parents is limited by reliance on volunteer or convenience samples. The present study examined the quality of parent-child relationships and the socioemotional and gender development of a community sample of 7-year-old children with lesbian parents. Families were recruited through the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a geographic popula...

AIM This article provides an overview of how gender and historical contexts influence the well-being of old lesbians. It aims to inform the practice of aged care providers in addressing the needs of these women. METHODS The lived experience of old lesbians is examined using feminist methodology with a focus on hegemonic femininity, social structures and cultural life. RESULTS Old lesbians b...

Past research has demonstrated that women do not show a "category-specific" genital response to erotic stimuli. That is, on average, heterosexual and lesbian women are indistinguishable in terms of their physiological genital responses to heterosexual versus lesbian erotica. In two studies with heterosexual women (n = 28 for Study 1; n = 30 for Study 2) and lesbians (n = 24 for Study 1; n = 25 ...

This study examines the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) men with eating disorders. A total of 388 white, black, and Latino LGB men and women were sampled from community venues. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) diagnoses of anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder were assessed using the World Health Org...

Research suggests a gendered dimension to the geography of sexual minorities, as gay couples are more likely to live in cities than are lesbian couples. Using data from 60 interviews with rural gays and lesbians, this article employs an intersectional analysis of the mutually constitutive relationships among place, gender, and sexuality in order to assess how acceptance of gays and lesbians in ...

This article revisits the controversy surrounding Deepa Mehta's Fire (1996), India's first publicly released film depicting female same-sex desire. The film has become a touchstone for discussions of the representation of queer and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) lives in India. While the majority of critical accounts of the film have rejected the use of "lesbian" on the basis of...